


A Familiar Sound

by patronusaurus



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-29
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2019-01-26 08:45:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12553656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/patronusaurus/pseuds/patronusaurus
Summary: Taako does a cooking show and is greeted by a fan afterwards with the same name as a friend from long ago. Pre-The Adventure Zone.





	A Familiar Sound

**Author's Note:**

> Hi friends! This is my first time writing fanfiction since MIDDLE SCHOOL (ten years ago, fam), but I've been feeling super inspired lately because of The Adventure Zone, and I wanted to just take this idea and run with it. Let me know what you think!

Taako took a breath.

His traveling cooking show was going well, but it was still new, and he was nervous. Not about the quality of the food—GOD, no, not that, the food was great—but if it would truly be appreciated. He couldn’t get a slot to perform in the big cities, not yet, but Sazed had managed to swing their first show in a decently mid-sized town, Dwarf’s Hollow. It was, true to its name, a copse in the middle of a lush, brightly lit forest, mostly populated by dwarves.

Dwarves were not known for their superb taste when it came to luxury cuisine.

Taako sighed. He wanted to be famous, for everyone in the world to know his name because of his exquisite culinary creations. He would never make a name for himself in places like Dwarf’s Hollow, but all great artists had to start somewhere. Maybe, if the show went well here, he’d be able to work his way up. The next city on his List of Ambition was the slightly-larger-but-much-more-sophisticated Raven’s Roost, and then maybe he’d be able to snag performance times in Goldcliff, or even Neverwinter.

Taako shook himself, turning his focus back to Sazed as he set up the wagon. Taako needed to focus on today’s show. Neverwinter would happen when it happened, but it wouldn’t happen if he didn’t dazzle and delight during every single show, including this one. He needed to crush it.

As if that was even a real concern.

The show went off without a hitch, as to be expected. The savory pasta dish paired with sliced, fried potato skins and a sparkly champagne was a hit with the modest crowd. Only about twenty folks showed up, but Taako could tell a few of them were travelers like himself, a bit more worldly than the residents of Dwarf’s Hollow, and he hoped they would spread the word about his cooking prowess far and wide on their travels.

As Sazed finished cleaning up, humming a simple tune to himself, Taako mingled with the crowd, though it was quickly thinning out as the citizens of the town went back to their business, and the travelers were eager to get back on the road. Taako was about ready to call it a night himself until he felt someone vault into him at top speed. Well, vault into his legs anyway. He looked down, and a little human girl that was exactly half his height was grinning up at him. He glanced around confusedly. Shouldn’t there be some adult with this thing? Where was her owner?

“Hi!” the girl chirped, still smiling her gap-toothed smile at Taako. He took a step back, not wanting the girl to touch him. He didn’t know what kind of diseases she might be carrying.

His question about her adult was answered when he glimpsed a young woman barreling towards them, the only person heading into the clearing rather than wandering away from it. Once she reached them, she scooped the girl up in her arms and glared at her with a mixture of fury and relief. “I turn away for two seconds to thank Melda for letting me borrow a book, and you wander off! You know better! You scared me!”

The girl was still looking at Taako, but now she was eye level. The way she looked him dead in the eye was a little disconcerting. Weren’t little kids supposed to be shy around strangers? The girl looked at the woman (her mother? Aunt? Babysitter?) and said, “I just wanted to tell him how much I loved the show.” She pouted, using her giant cheeks and sparkling eyes to the best of her advantage. She turned her head to look at Taako again. “I want to be just like you when I grow up!”

The woman chuckled and turned to fully face Taako. “My Lulu is quite the little cook.”

Taako didn’t hear anything past “Lulu.” It echoed in his head like an alarm or a clock tower. Lulu, Lulu, Lulu. He’d known someone by that name once, hadn’t he? Someone important? The…the most important person in the world, that he knew. But when he tried to think of more, his thoughts turned to fuzz. His vision whited out and he felt a sharp pain in his knees.

And just like that, he could see again. The little girl was at eye level again, but this time it was because he was on the ground. She was bracing his shoulder, otherwise he would have collapsed completely. She stared him in the eyes again, with that gaze that seemed to sturdy to belong to such a young face. The woman was kneeling next to him as well, with a hand tentatively placed on his shoulder. “Are you okay?” she asked anxiously.

Taako shrugged both of their hands off his shoulders. “Yeah,” he said slowly. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He began to stand, attempting to jovially brush off their offers of help. “Shows just tire me out sometimes. I don’t even notice till I’m on the ground.”

The woman seemed unsure. “Do you need any medicine? An apothecary? A cleric? A beach dwarf just wandered into town and he says he’s a servant of Pan. I’ve seen him heal; I think he could help you.”

Taako brought himself up to his full height. “No need. This happens all the time. My assistant,” he said, waving airily at Sazed, still utterly oblivious to Taako’s collapse, “will be able to get me anything I need. He’s well trained in this sort of thing.” He started to walk back towards the wagon, but stopped and ruffled Lulu’s hair. “Keep cookin’, kid,” he said, and winked at her. She nodded solemnly. He continued to the wagon and prepared for the next leg of his world tour.

On to Raven’s Roost.


End file.
